Time Out
by ZeRainbowWriter
Summary: Indie Edwards. 13 year old mystery girl. Nobody knows much about her...except her two childhood friends, Johnny and Tee Taylor, and even they don't know what's recently been going on in her life.With gangs and forgotten secrets, can the DG help Indie escape from her past, or will everyone there just make her feel worse and more out of depth than ever? T for deep themes, Johnny/OC
1. Chapter 1

A sleek red car drew up outside of Elm Tree House, and all of the residents were staring out of the living room window, whispering in hushed voices that the new girl was here. Nobody knew that much about her at all, not even the care workers, although that was something they refused to admit. The fact was, this girl never trusted anyone enough to tell them her story, and the social workers didn't have anyone else to ask. So they figured, put her in a nice care home, and when she's settled in, she might reveal her story so that they could put it in the files. But this was irrelevant.

"Here we are!" Helen, the new girl's social worker, got out of the car. "Now don't you think this place looks nice?" she waved cheerfully at the kids, and they immediately waved back before scattering away from the window. "Come on, Indie, get out of the car sweetie."

The passenger door opened and the girl called Indie stepped out in a flash of light brown hair. She slammed the door shut and put her backpack on her back. Her eyes flickered to the house and she arched an eyebrow slightly, but apart from that her expression didn't change. She walked to the back of the car and opened the boot, silently getting out a few black bags of stuff.

"Need any help?" Helen asked, closing the boot as Indie walked up to the door. The only reply Helen got was a mere shake of the head.

The woman frowned, but she forced another smile on her face as she walked up to the door and rang the bell. Indie stood silently beside her, a rather annoyed look on her face as she did so. Helen felt bad for her, but what could she do? Indie needed a care home that she could stay in for longer than a few weeks, and this was the only place available. With any luck, she'd start to fit in for once.

A young woman with silky black hair opened the door, and she smiled pleasantly at Indie and Helen. "Hi! Indie, right? I'm Tracy."

Indie gave a slight nod and offered a very small smile, and a look of surprised flashed over Helen's face. She never smiled, not even a tiny bit, this easily. Tracy seemed proud of herself as she moved aside to let both of them in. Indie went in, looking around her as she did so. She kept a more tight hold on her bags, worried that someone might jump out and steal them. The thought of this made Indie's expression darken a little, but nobody seemed to notice. A group of kids behind a big Jamaican woman caught her eye.

"Hi, Indie! I'm Gina. Nice to meet you. I'll show you your room, yeah?" Gina said, but then Tracy appeared beside Indie.

"Gina, why don't you help Mike and Helen out in the office? I'll show Indie her room." Tracy put a hand on Indie's shoulder and, again to Helen's surprise, Indie didn't shake her off.

"Alright." Gina agreed, heading into the office.

Indie's eyes settled on the group of kids, and then her eyes widened as they found two particular kids. They seemed to recognize her too. She quickly turned away and followed Tracy upstairs, her heart pounding fiercely in her chest. Was it really them? It…couldn't be, right?

Tracy gestured to a room with very bare walls and a bed, with a chest of drawers and a wardrobe. Indie put her bags down on the bed and looked around her.

"It's a bit dull and boring at the moment." Tracy admitted. "But you'll be able to paint it soon, since we're redoing the kids' rooms at some point in a couple weeks."

Indie nodded. "Okay…thanks." She said, surprising Tracy a little since Helen had seemed to think Indie didn't talk much.

"Do you want help unpacking?" Tracy asked gently.

Indie shook her head. "Nah, I'm good, thanks though."

Tracy nodded and headed downstairs, closing Indie's door behind her. Indie let out a sigh and opened her backpack, revealing her laptop, her phone, and a couple of beanies and t-shirts. She took her laptop, phone and their chargers out, and she instantly plugged them both in. Then she emptied out the beanies and pencils and such that she'd crammed in. She poured the contents of the black bags onto her bed until there was literally no room on there for anything else.

Indie picked up all her beanies, opened the chest of drawers, and put them in neatly, along with underwear and stuff. She filled up that drawer, and began putting pencils and notebooks and pens and any random stuff in the other drawers. She filled up the wardrobe with her clothes and shoes and she put three boxes (filled with stuff that nobody knew about except her) under her bed. Then she put the remaining stuff away and lay on her bed.

Her phone began to ring. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stand a little taller, doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone…" she sang along with the ringtone, before checking the caller ID. She answered, putting the phone to her ear, and her expression instantly changed.

"Where the fuck are you?" the familiar, very menacing voice growled. "I went to yer house, and you weren' bloody there, and neither were your siblings."

"Does it really matter?" Indie said coldly. "What the hell do you want, Andy?"

"Straight to the point, are we? Alrigh'. There's a guy in that alleyway next to your favorite café. He's sellin' them drugs I asked you for. Take 'em, and kill him." Andy said.

Indie's eyes widened. "K-kill him?"

"Yeah. I figured it's time to up your rank in the group. You used to only be the collector, but now you get a real chance to shine. I want the drugs, and proof he's dead, by tonight. Good luck, sweetheart. I'll be waiting!" with that, Andy hung up.

Indie let the phone drop onto the bed, and she slowly began to tremble. This was all happening way too fast, and no matter how safe she'd thought she might be here, now she knew that they'd find her. She got up slowly, her face white, and she silently changed into all black clothes, topped with a black hoodie. She opened her bedroom door and stepped out.

And there, staring at her in surprise, was Johnny Taylor.

Her childhood best friend.


	2. Chapter 2

"It _is_ you!" Johnny and Indie said at the same time, their eyes wide.

"Oh my god!" Indie squealed, and she threw her arms around Johnny's neck and hugged him tightly. He returned the hug, laughing. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Same here!" Johnny exclaimed.

There was a rush and a happy cry of "Indie!" before Indie found herself being jumped at and hugged tightly by Tee, another one of her best friends.

"Tee!" Indie hugged her back. "It's so great to see you guys!" she said, as she put Tee down and smiled at her and Johnny.

"I knew it was you, from the moment you came in. I just wasn't sure if you remembered us." Johnny said.

"I recognized you instantly, but…I wasn't sure, I thought maybe my mind was playing tricks on me…and how could I not remember you? You guys are my best friends! Jesus, I've missed you." She said genuinely, wiping at her eyes.

"As emotional as ever, I see." Tee teased, laughing as she wiped at her own eyes.

"You and me both." Indie giggled. "So you've been here for all 5 years you've been gone?"

"Well…Tee got fostered for a bit, but then she came back…but apart from that, I guess we have been, yeah. And what about you? Where have you been?" Johnny asked.

Indie shrugged. "Here, there, everywhere." She said, giggling. "Listen, I really want to stay and get to know everyone down there and talk to you more, but I have to go…I have plans with a couple friends who have some stuff to give me…left it at my old care home." She was a very skilled liar, and so Johnny and Tee nodded.

"Okay, see you later!" Tee grinned.

"But we have to catch up at some point today or tomorrow." Johnny said.

"Okay, I promise we will." Indie said, and grinning at them, she walked downstairs. She let Tracy know she was going out and then left, heading for the alleyway Andy had mentioned to her. Her phone beeped in her pocket as she got there. _There u are, I can see you. Good luck wiv the job, I won't b watching this time but nxt time I will b x_

Indie suddenly had an idea. Andy wasn't watching…so she didn't have to kill this guy! She walked quickly into the alleyway and cornered the guy. He looked at her and his face paled.

"Y-you're that girl from Andy's gang." He said, starting to tremble. "Please don't kill me!" he begged.

"Keep calm and speak quietly." Indie hissed. "Give me the gear, and I'll let you go, but you'll have to get far away from here, and never come back, so Andy thinks you're dead. And give me something that will make him think you're dead."

"Th-thank you!" the guy whispered. He handed over the drugs, and a picture of his son. "I have another one, so take it."

"Thank you. Now quickly, get out of here, take your family and leave the country. Understand?" Indie whispered.

"Yes, yes! Thank you!" and with that, the guy ran off. Indie pulled her penknife from her pocket, breathing heavily. She cut a little blood from her arm and let blood drop onto the photo. Perfect. She quickly put her knife away and covered her arm well, before walking towards where she knew Andy and the gang would be.

"Is it done?" Andy asked as she approached.

Indie handed over the drugs and the bloody photo. She hadn't realized how bloody her hands were, but Andy seemed to think it was the guy's blood.

"Very nice work Indie. Wish I'd been watching. See you next time, honey." Andy breathed, coming closer.

Indie moved away, turned on her heel and walked back to Elm Tree. There was a hose in the garden, so she slipped in and cleaned the blood off her hands before entering the house properly. As soon as she turned around, Tracy was there.

"That only took you an hour." Tracy said, grinning. "Was it a date?"

Indie laughed. "Nah, just hanging out with some friends. Got scratched by a stray, though." She said, revealing her bleeding arm.

"Yeesh. Let me get that cleaned up for you." Tracy said, sitting her down and going to get the first aid kit.

Indie closed her eyes and prayed that Andy wouldn't find out where she was living, and that she hadn't killed that man. Because if he found out either of those things…he would kill her and everyone else.

She could not afford to let that happen. Tracy bandaged and cleaned up her arm, and then led her into the living room.

"Hi!" a girl in pink rushed up to her. "I'm Carmen!" she was wearing all pink and she seemed way more excited than she should have been.

Indie smiled. "I'm Indie."

She was introduced to everyone and at dinner, she sat next to Johnny and Tee.

"What's your full name?" a boy named Gus asked, holding his pen over his notebook expectantly.

"uh…" Indie began.

"Just go with it." Johnny whispered. "He has this thing about writing the residents in his notebook."

"Okay…my full name is Indigo Catherine Edwards, but I hate my full name, so everyone has to call me Indie." She said.

"How old are you? When's your birthday?" Gus asked, after scribbling her name in his notebook.

"I'm 13, and my birthday's on July 8th." She responded.

"So you're only two months younger than Johnny." Gus muttered absently, scribbling away in his notebook. "What's your favorite color?"

"All of them."

"Favorite food?"

"Uh…pasta."

"Favorite dessert?"

"Cheesecake."

"You have good taste." Gus noted, scribbling away. "Why are you in care?"

Indie paused,, eating silently for a moment. Then, "I don't want to talk about it."

Gus was about to complain when Sapphire nudged him and shook her head warningly. Indie kept her focus on her food, but some of the kids could see that she'd gone very pale and her eyes had darkened.

Something told them that it was best not to ask.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, how's your mum and Lucas?"

Indie was in Johnny's room, her legs tucked around her, sitting on his bed, while Tee was on a beanbag next to them and Johnny was sitting cross-legged opposite Indie. It'd been a week since Indie's arrival, and they had only just gotten round to talking about their families. Indie had settled in really well, and was friends with everyone.

"I dunno." Indie admitted. "I haven't seen my mum in ages and as for Lucas…well, he left just before I got taken away…but knowing her, she probably went after him and begged him to take her back, so…" she trailed off. "How's your mum and her boyfriend?"

"Not sure." Tee frowned.

"She never contacts us so it's hard to tell, y'know? But my guess is that they're still together." Johnny said. "But I don't care anymore. She's not coming back for us…"

"Oh Johnny, don't say that." Indie whispered, reaching over and hesitantly placing her hand on his. "Maybe she will, and even if she doesn't…it's her loss, and you will find a family."

"Do you really think so?" Johnny asked.

"I know so." Indie said, taking her hand away from his. "You two will get a family, just you wait and see."

Liam and Frank burst into the room. "Guys! You'll never guess what." They were grinning all over their faces. "Toby likes Carmen!"

"What?!" Tee and Indie said together, while Johnny rolled his eyes.

"It's not like that's news." Johnny pointed out.

"That's so sweet! Indie exclaimed.

"I know right!" Tee squealed.

"Girls." Johnny muttered, rolling his eyes.

"He's about to ask Carmen out!" Frank said, and they all jumped up and ran downstairs, hiding just outside the living room door with the others.

"Are you okay?" Carmen's voice was concerned. "Did someone do something to you?" now her voice was slowly turning to anger. "Who was it? I'll-"

"No!" Toby said quickly, his Scottish accent nervous. "No, nobody did anything to me…I just…I need to ask you something."

Carmen's voice softened. "Oh, good. What is it?"

"Well…I….I've liked you for a really long time now…" Toby began.

Indie and Tee were only just managing to conceal their squeals, and Lily looked annoyed at the fact that Toby was asking Carmen out, but she was being held by Liam so she couldn't stop them.

"And you're really pretty, and I was thinking…m-maybe you'd like to go out with me sometime?" Toby finished, and when Indie peeped round the door, she saw him blushing and staring at the ground. Carmen was blushing too.

"Of course I would! I really like you too…" she said shyly.

"Really?" Toby looked up at her.

"Really." She said, smiling.

"Yay!" Tee yelled, and the whole group ran in and pushed Carmen and Toby together, giving them a group hug.

Carmen and Toby both blushed but they laughed.

"It's about time!" Liam said.

Lily was the only one not hugging the two. She had a look of pure jealousy on her face, and she was glowering. Indie walked over to her.

"What's up with you?" Indie asked.

"She's supposed to be my best friend, and yet she's practically ditching me for Toby!" Lily said, stamping her foot in irritation.

"No she's not…" Indie said, bewildered. "Dude, Carmen deserves to be happy and she is allowed other people in her life."

"But what if I don't want her to have other people in her life?" Lily argued. The whole group fell silent, appalled at Lily's selfishness.

"Well then you can go cry in a corner and sulk, because not everything is up to you and she is allowed to be friends with other people and have a boyfriend. Her life doesn't revolve around you, may I just remind you." Indie rolled her eyes. "And no offence or anything, but you're being a whiny little drama queen and it's just a little bit pathetic."

Lily growled and slapped Indie, hard. "Bitch!"

Johnny and Tee exchanged fearful glances. This was not going to end well.

Indie very slowly looked at Lily again, and her eyes seemed to flare. "Right." She said, and she clenched her fist and punched Lily, who reeled back with a shriek, and then lunged for Indie, attempting to tackle her. Indie dodged and Lily crashed into the table. The others moved away, shocked and rather amused at the scene playing out. Lily growled and pounced, tackling Indie to the floor and hitting her.

Indie kicked and hit Lily, who howled in pain and rolled off her. Indie pinned Lily to the floor, her eyes practically on fire and breathing heavily.

"Don't. You. _Ever._ Hit. Me. Again." Indie let venom seep through every word, and Lily pushed her in an attempt to get her off. Indie got off, but on her own. She could feel a cut down her cheek where Lily had scratched her, and her lip was bleeding a bit. Lily's nose was bleeding horribly and she had a black eye. They both had a couple bruises.

"This isn't over." Lily growled.

"Oh yes it is. For now." Indie replied coldly, crossing her arms.

Tracy came in, took one look at Lily and Indie, and her face became serious.

"You two. Kitchen. Now." She said, frowning.

Lily stalked out of the living room and down to the kitchen, Tracy following. Indie rolled her eyes and followed, but not before she heard clapping behind her. She grinned and threw a tiny wink back at the group before walking downstairs.

"I can't believe your stupidity!" Mike said, as he tended to Lily's nose.

"Fighting is against the rules!" Tracy said, wiping fiercely at Indie's lip.

"She started it." Lily lied.

"You bitch, that's not true!" Indie growled, getting up.

"Down!" Tracy said, shoving Indie back into her seat. "You're not making a very good impression, are you?" she said crossly.

"Oh that's right, just blame me because I'm the new girl!" Indie said, getting up and letting the chair clatter to the ground. "She was just as much a part of it as I was but never mind that, let's just blame the new girl because we're playing favorites!" she yelled, storming out.

"Indie, get back here!" Mike called after her, but she didn't listen.

She'd thought everyone here was okay. She probably should have known better, she thought, as she walked into her room and slammed the door fiercely behind her.l


	4. Chapter 4

"Go away." Indie sighed, when someone knocked at her door.

"Nah." Johnny replied, slipping in and closing the door behind him. She had her face buried into her pillow, and felt the bed sag a little as he sat on it. "You okay?"

"No." Indie replied. "I thought things would be nice and fair and all that here. Obviously not, huh?"

"Most of the time, things are fair." Johnny reasoned. "Maybe you just got the wrong end of the stick?" he suggested.

"Maybe." Indie shrugged. "But I still had a point, and Lily did start the fight."

"We told Mike and Gina that, y'know, The rest of us." Johnny said. "Even Carmen took your side over Lily's." Johnny told her.

"Wow, I feel privileged." Indie said genuinely, laughing as she sat up next to Johnny.

"You should." Johnny replied jokingly, laughing softly. "Listen, me, Tee, Carmen and Toby are going out to the mall for Starbucks and shopping." He rolled his eyes a tiny bit, but he was grinning. "Do you want to come with us? Lily's _not_ invited."

"Sure." Indie agreed, pulling on a red hoodie and her plum-colored trainers and heading downstairs with Johnny.

"That was epic, what you did to Lily." Carmen said, laughing.

"It so was." Toby agreed.

Indie just laughed and dismissed it. "C'mon, let's go!"

"Kay." Tee said, and the five set off, getting a taxi to the mall.

"These Caramel Dreams are so goddamn amazing!" Indie exclaimed.

"I know right." Toby said, sipping his happily.

"I'm glad Starbucks sells these as well as coffee." Johnny added.

"Yeah. I mean, coffee can be nice and all, but this is the best drink here by far." Carmen said, laughing.

Tee just nodded and nibbled at her Starbucks cookie.

"So guys, I was thinking…" Indie said. "We should totally hang out more often. You seem like really cool people, and y'know…friends are crucial." She laughed.

"Totally!" Tee agreed.

"I'm up for that." Carmen added.

The boys nodded and grinned.

"Oh my gosh, look at those shoes!" Indie said, pointing at a shop opposite that had red high heels outside. They were glossy red and had straps.

"We'll be right back, guys." Tee said, getting up with Indie.

"Five minutes! Or maybe ten." Carmen said, kissing Toby on the cheek as they rushed over to the store.

"Girls." Toby and Johnny said, shaking their heads and sipping their caramel dreams.

"So…speaking of girls…" Toby was smirking at Johnny in a way that made the latter feel confused. "What's the deal with you and Indie?"

"Whaddya mean?" Johnny said, blinking. "We're just friends."

"There's no way you're just friends. I've seen the way you look at her. You _like_ her, don't you?" Toby grinned.

"No! No way!" Johnny said quickly, shaking his head vigorously. He paused. "Well, I guess I was really happy to see her…and she's grown up to become really pretty…and I kinda liked her…okay, I liked her a lot when we were kids…"

"So ask her out!" Toby said.

"I can't!" Johnny protested. "She doesn't like me, not that way, it's obvious!"

"No way, man, she so does!" Toby said. "And besides, how would you know? No offence, but you're not exactly an expert in this kinda thing, y'know?"

"I guess not, but…I dunno. I'll think about it, at least." Johnny said.

"Good." Toby said.

Meanwhile, over in the shoes store, the girls were browsing dreamily and putting the shoes they wanted into the shopping trolley.

"So!" Carmen said, smirking at Indie. "You like Johnny, don't you?"

"What?!" Indie said, defensively since she was caught off guard. "No! No way! I mean, pffft, no!"

Tee and Carmen gave her long looks until she weakened. "Okay, yes, I do. He's really cute, and nice to me, and I was crushing on him the whole time we used to know each other…and I was really happy to see him again. But there's absolutely no way that he likes me."

"Oh come on! It's obvious that he does!" Tee said, rolling her eyes. "C'mon, Indie, you should tell him how you feel!"

"No way!" Indie protested. "It'd ruin our friendship and I'd feel so awkward! And besides, we know nothing about each other, near enough. We've both changed from when we were kids."

"Sooo get to know each other again! It's not rocket science, Indie. And then when you know each other you'll realize you're soulmates, and you'll date and get married when you're older…" Carmen began.

"And then you'll live happily ever after!" she and Tee said together, and then they giggled, walkingup to the counter with the trolley and getting out their money.

"Well, I'll think about it. I'm not saying it'll happen like that, but since I do like him a lot, I'll give it a try, okay?" Indie said.

_Oh man, _she thought as they paid for the shoes and began walking back over to the boys. _What have I gotten myself into?_


End file.
